Who has a great clay/ceramics program in your area? | Q.O.W. 1/31/2013

Time for "lauding the locals" here. Many of us have ceramics programs,.... be they community education, craft centers, or academic institutions........ that we feel offer some great learning opportunities. So time to "share the wealth" of information.

Who has a great clay/ceramics program in your area?

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Over a year ago my wife bought me pottery classes at alocal pottery here in Snohomish, WA. It had been about 15 years since Ihad taken clay seriously so was VERY rusty. She knew of my love for clayand wanted me to take it back up. Ifigured I would take a quick class as a one time fun thing as I have done overthe years. Upon entering the Potteryfor the first time I knew it was real. Not a trendy strip mall space with slick furniture and lighting. But a real working pottery. It took a good 6 months to get back into formand have loved the caring and nurturing environment.

Bruning Pottery in Snohomish, WA is a full productionpottery as well as a teaching studio. They have been in business for 30 years and are in an old building inthe historic area of town. After about 8months Larry was encouraged to get my own studio together to help me reallylearn some aspects like glaze formulas and high firing. Even though I have my own studio now I willcontinue to take a class or two each year.

I would encourage anyone who is in the area to giveBruning a try, you will not regret it. There are throwers and hand builders in each class and a huge selectionof glazes as well as all the equipment needed. Larry has a large +75 cf high fire car kiln and fires it about twice aweek with both student pots as well as his own production.

I like the fact that is a real pottery that has aproduction facility and professional potters filling orders and running thatproduction. It is a real eyeopener. I also like the functional wareemphasis that Larry teaches as this is what appeals to me. There is nothing wrong with sculpture or non-functionalart pieces, but that does not appeal to me.

His website is super plain, but he does it all himselfand likes it that way.

Where I live in Southern California, (the area around Pasadena and Ontario) there are two full range ceramic programs of note. The first is the Baldwin Park Adult Ceramics Program. They fire from cone 06 to 10 and provide glazes for ^5 and ^10. There are electric wheels (in a separate room) and tables for hand building. There is a fine instructor as well as an extruder and a fine slab roller. This is more like an artist's studio than a class although there is plenty of instruction for all from beginners to advanced potters.

The second is the Ceramic Services Inc. in Ontario. While this is a working Kiln manufacturing shop it is also a true a potters studio. While they will accommodate ^06 and ^5 firings they mostly do ^10 and RAKU! They have about 25 glazes but they have materials for studio members so that you can make up you own glazes. There are about 10 electric wheels and able table space. They also have an extruder and slab roller. In addition they stock clay, glaze and tools for purchase. Regular demonstrations and workshops are provided.

Of the two potteries, BPAC is great for learners of all ages and skills, CSI is more of an artist studio with limitless potential for inspiration, networking and camaraderie.

I live in the Triad area of North Carolina (High Point, Greensboro, Winston-Salem). The Sawtooth School for Visual Art in Winston-Salem has a fantastic ceramic program, now featuring separate newly designed wheel throwing and hand-building studios with all the necessary equipment, a separate glazing room with a choice of between 15-20 cone 6 glazes (reduction), a separate glaze mixing room, and two gas kilns. The program coordinator has been there for about 20 years I can't say enough about how well he operates the program and how much he cares about the students. He offers several workshops throughout a session (four sessions per year), sometimes featuring well-known artists from around the country. Students have access to the studios whenever a class is not in session. Check it out at www.sawtooth.org

I am fortunate to live in Helena Montana home of Archie Bray Foundation where potters from around the world come to learn and teach. The Bray helped locals start Clay Arts Guild of Helena which I was a member of for six years, now I have a kiln and studio at home. Sometimes I miss the interaction with other artist but I don't miss the politics/rules/stress that comes with keeping the doors open and keeping everyone happy. I purchase my supplies from Archie Bray Clay Biz, my videos and books from Ceramic Arts Daily, some day in the future will have a mentor from the Potters Council.....

The cottage is home to four different guilds - Stained Glass, Weaving, Palette and Pencil and of course, pottery. They have courses constantly and membership allows you 24 hour access to the facilities. I'm learning so much there (newby potter - 1 year old ). And they also have sales twice a year.

Here in Boise, most of the middle schools used to teach ceramics; all the high schools have ceramics, and of course, Boise State University has a really good ceramics program. There's a community based school, Fort Boise, for adults. Some of the "students" have been there long enough to have tenure. To get into a class there comes down to WHO you know, not what. Then there's The Potters Center, the local supplier for the nearby school districts, and for most studio potters. They teach classes, and have studio space available for local potters. They also provide firing for the public--06 bisque and cone 5 glaze. All of these services are fee based.

Here in the Northwest corner of Connecticut, we are fortunate to have an adult ed class at the local community college. The studio is well equipped with 20 wheels, 2 electric kilns, a slab roller, an extruder, a spray booth (in the separate glaze room) and plenty of tables to work on. We share the space with the "for credit" classes. The Adult Ed class is co-taught by 2 wonderfully talented potters. The content of the class is determined by the needs of the students. Weekly demos are tuned to the interests of the students and challenges are issued to each individual's level of ability. I am taking classes for the third year and am learning new things all the time.

I recently moved into the Clay Underground in San Francisco (http://www.theclayunderground.com) which (shameless plug) still has space available. If you're looking for studio space in San Francisco, you can't really do better without buying a house ($$$$). The Clay Underground also runs some classes, and the full-time artists there (like me) tend to drop by and help out the students on general technique: http://www.theclayun...nd.com/classes/ . There's currently 8 Shimpo wheels (these seem to be a favorite with schools now), a slab roller, an extruder, and three electric kilns. It's also more spacious than just about anything in San Francisco.

If that's not your speed, I can also recommend:

* Sharon Art Studio in Golden Gate Park. This is a subsidized student facility with a great faculty and terrific, friendly group of students. Drawbacks are (a) since it's a student facility, you can't sell your work, and ( there's a waiting list to get in.

* SMArt Gallery and Studio, in the Tenderloin. Run by a former SFSU professor of ceramics (Steven Allen, who's been featured in CM), this studio has 6 Shimpo wheels, 2 electric kilns and a very serious glaze lab. Quite cramped compared to Clay Underground, but has a serious gallery attached if you want Steve's help selling your work.